Catastrophic Staffing

As the Continuous Improvement Program (CIP) develops the FEMA Agency-wide 2017 Hurricane Season After-Action Review, we need the input and diverse perspectives of the entire FEMA team, the stakeholders we serve, and the partners we work with every day. We need your help to inform our future vision, direction, strategic goals, and operational objectives.

The CIP is conducting interviews, focus groups, and hotwashes with staff activated and deployed during the 2017 Hurricane Season, including the National Response Coordination Center, Regional Response Coordination Centers, Joint Field Offices, and division and branch offices. Continuous Improvement Coordinators (CICs) embedded across these operations have also collected data by observing and supporting missions executed by program areas. CIP is seeking additional feedback and engagement from employees at all levels and stakeholders about continued response and recovery efforts for Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. The information collected during this IdeaScale campaign will feed into the larger continuous improvement effort at FEMA.

The FEMA and OGA Surge, Regional PMC and RSOI teams, along with DHS and other component team members, should train and exercise regionally, as teams. Include pre-approval and issuance of CAC/PIV cards.

Voting

After every event [ex. each wave of volunteers needs to be debriefed], we need to conduct Hot Washes and study and learn from the lessons. This should not continue to be some "look at our pretty study" op. Hot Washes, AARs and LLs need to be studied at the LOWEST OPERATIONAL LEVELS. But, if we restrict access to them, that is difficult to do.

Voting

FEMA has a license to MS Project. it is easy to use. Activities, and we are trying to schedule and track activities, all have predecessors, and or, concurrent and or successors. The relationships between these activities affect production schedules. It is not difficult to keep track of the as-scheduled, vs as executed plan. It can be tedious, it does take time and attention, but it is not difficult.

Voting

Each OGA is, in theory, assigned a Surge Mentor. Using DTS to track who the OGA was assigned to, and requiring the transfer of accountability, as though the OGA staff were accountable property (which is how I considered my assignees), would prevent phantom staff from appearing in an AOR, which did happen with annoying frequency.

Voting

Including but not limited to basic DTS, Travel, DSA, IA, Direct Housing, EHP, Disability Integration, HR and the other areas where OGAs might be assigned. Completion of task specific courses should be included in the OGAs profile, so that skill requests could be pre-sorted by qualifications.

Voting

The biggest complaint that FEMA encountered with the OFAs was that they did not have access to their work email. This came in handy if they needed to reset their password in webTA especially (there were many). In DTS, if the request could include creating a webmail or temporary FEMA account (to expire in 45 days) would speed up the training process tremendously. This would put everyone on the same page from the time
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Voting

General recruitment comment. FEMA would benefit from a modified Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery [ASVAB test], and a physical fitness position requirement for deployment to certain locations or for certain positions [call centers and JFOs are different than field work]

Voting

The use of centralized space management systems would greatly enhance the speed and efficiency in the management of call center surge staff assignments.Adding professional level space planning expertise would significantly improve the movement of surge staff from arrival to assignment. Sample staffing scenarios with associated schedules should be developed in advance. Once sample staffing scenarios are drafted, the associated
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Voting

The Agency should consider using a crawler message on television when a large Type 1 or multiple events tax our existing work force. The wording could be something like " Any former or retired FEMA employee who is interested in working during this disaster is encouraged to call 1-800-XXX-XXX." The Agency could then screen the callers and issue instructions to those whose skills are needed. This would speed up filling
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